Wagner: Das Liebesverbot - Overture
Das Liebesverbot received a disasterous first
performance in Magdeburg on 29th March 1836. The opera was so under-rehearsed that the
tenor was reduced to singing snatches of his existing repertoire in order to cover his
lapses of memory, while Wagner provided a contrapuntal accompaniment in the form of the
correct vocal line. The second performance was prevented from taking place by a fist-fight
among members of the cast. Wagner's experience in Magdeburg, and later in similar theatres
in Königsberg and Riga, served to promote his sense of isolation as an artist: he felt at
odds with his environment and gave expression to his sense of frustration and
misunderstaning in the series of operas that followed. In Rienzi, Der
Fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, the artistis seen in
conflict with society.
© Stewart Spencer & Katie Lang
